truthstranger | Nope's Peak Day 17

...I see. I felt the same, but...

[ But that's clearly not what he's after right now. ]

Did you tell anyone else about it?

[he shakes his head]

No, I didn't.

Mm.

[ He thinks about that for a moment before speaking again. ]

...Kaiba-kun told me that Furudo-san told him she was planning to go out with you... so that if she died, he'd know who to suspect. That just seemed... a bit strange to me.

[a small sigh, and his expression falls a bit]

Yeah. Seto approached me about that, too.

But Erika's the cautious type. I think. . . her trust in me was pretty conditional.

It's not a matter of whether she trusted you or not. Every time I mentioned being worried about her before, she was convinced she was invincible. "Don't be ridiculous. The detective can't die... not until certain circumstances are met, at least." That sort of thing.

And even if she thought those circumstances were met... Do you think she'd want to make it easy for us to solve her murder?

[. . . a snort, the slight twitch of his mouth]

No, probably not. The one thing she loved more than anything else was a good mystery.

It's one reason why she hated this place.

Mm. And the day before she died, she was trying to coach me to solve mysteries better.

So, I think... either she had something strange planned, or... Kaiba-kun was lying about it.

[he frowns, brows furrowed]

Something strange? Like what? And how could Seto lie about how he knew I was supposed to meet with Erika?

I'm not sure yet what it could have been.

Did he approach you before or after you mentioned trying to meet her in public...?

[tilts his head a bit, and lets out a small sigh]

Before. As soon as the news of Erika's death spread.

Mm, I see. Then she must have told him at some point.

[. . . his frown deepens, something pained appearing in his expression, because. well. he really likes and trusts Kaiba]

Do you think he could have taken advantage of that when I didn't show up. . .?

...Potentially. Especially since it seems like she's willing to work with him to some extent.

[a light curse, and he runs his uninjured hand through his hair]

Are. . . you sure it had to be someone she would've trusted? If Hiyori was wandering around, looking for Will, and stumbled across her waiting for me. . .

[he trails off, because yeah, he knows that's not a good argument]

It's possible. I can't say it didn't happen that way... especially given Futayo's case. But... my intuition is that what happened last night isn't that simple.

...Kaiba-kun also mentioned that Furudo-san told him she was wary of and investigating Akechi-kun, and that she thought he seemed like one of the only people who didn't think Akechi-kun was a good person. And he said that he doesn't think it's coincidence that you and Akechi-kun were the reason she was alone.

I don't want to be suspicious just because of that, but...

[makes a face when Shuichi brings up Akechi, but otherwise holds his tongue. now is not the time to let their petty disagreements boil over. a breath, and the irritation fades]

But without evidence, the only thing we have to go on is people's behavior and whether their stories match up with common knowledge.

[a beat]

And Tycoon's semi-helpful Q&A session.

...Yes. And of the three candidates we're left with... I do think he's behaving more suspiciously than Hiyori is. Despite how, ah... flamboyantly he's admitting to wanting to kill Will Graham...

Of course, that's assuming the candidates we have are correct...

[. . . a nod of agreement]

And it's not another Niles and Corrin type of situation.

Although in that case, there was a glaring hole in their alibis. Corrin falling asleep was part of reason I thought Niles had done it in the first place.

[the other part being "captain hook," of course]

Edited 2018-01-21 00:34 (UTC)

Right. None of the alibis this time seem particularly suspicious. If anything, it would be yours, but...

[ But he clearly doesn't think they were faking any of that. ]

[Shuichi is probably like, the only other person in Nope's Peak beyond Akira and Akechi themselves who understands the discord between them]

[somewhat wryly]

We're. . . working on it.

[WAVES]

[A HAND]

[and then hesitates for a moment, before he asks]

. . . how much of that did Akechi tell you, anyway?

...Like I said, I still don't actually know what happened between you before, though he implied a bit about things he's done in general. But he said he'd argued with you about you being reckless and getting yourself hurt, and that you said you weren't planning on changing.

And he said... that he was overly invested. That he'd been relying on you too much, while you couldn't or wouldn't rely on him. And that... it was pathetic, and it would be better for him to do that less. And that you'd come to an understanding... though of course it didn't actually sound like things were resolved.

[. . . oh, geez. he opens his mouth to say something, before shutting it again, because in the end he doesn't want to give away Akechi's secrets if he hasn't given them away already]

[. . .]

[quietly]

I want to trust him.

...I believe that. And it is true that it's dangerous for you to be the only one he's counting on... for both of you.

Mmm.

[a nod of acknowledgement]

Which is why I'm glad he has you.

...Yeah. But he still cares about you, too. So... I hoped you could meet in the middle somehow.

Nope's Peak Day 17 - Akira

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